February 5, 2013

That's an actual headline at The Washington Post. The article informs us of an incident involving something that was said by a previously unfamous high school football coach. The erstwhile nonentity, Bob Grisham, said:

For his sins, Grisham was suspended from his job, but that's clearly not enough punishment. He must be further humiliated. As if this is enforcing good taste in talking about the First Lady! The Washington Post published an article about her ass! Halfway through it gets to the provocative question:

But what is it with Michelle Obama’s critics and the fixation with her derriere?

Does using words like "posterior" and "derriere" make this okay? The Washington Post asked the question — I'll put it in plain English: Why are so many people talking about Michelle Obama's ass?

Now, the obvious answer would seem to be that she's made childhood obesity her issue, so that's somehow asking for comment on the subject of whether she herself is at all fat. (I disagree with that sort of critique, by the way. She's made the subject obesity and how it affects health, not mere fatness and how it affects beauty. For her issue, it's fine that she doesn't come across as thin. She looks robust and not health-impaired. If she looked thin, people would say she's pushing vanity-based dieting and insufficiently concerned with the scourge of anorexia.)

The WaPo article ignores that obvious answer but does not eschew obviousness. It goes racial.

The first lady’s critics “are reacting to the culture in which they’ve grown up or they are using it as a code to racialize Michelle Obama and remind people that she’s black,” says Andra Gillespie, an associate professor of political science at Emory University.

J-Lo's butt is on the right side of giant. Michelle's isn't, her butt needs a separate plane to carry it (an it seems every time they go on vacay, it gets one, doesn't it...hmmm?).

I do love how Althouse decides to put words in everyone's mouths though.

How do you know people would say Michelle is anorexic if she was thin? Did people say that about Laura Bush? Scar-Jo? Anyone? I mean, anyone that's not actually, you know, anorexic?

Nah.

Michelle gets flak because she has a borderline bad personality, tells people they shouldn't eat anything while she eats foods seen as excessive (when people in America are eating hamburger helper (so to speak) and she's eating Kobe beef in Lobster sauce, people get pissy). And when she tells people they shouldn't eat the hamburger helper because it's bad for them and they say "but because of your idiot husband I can't afford Kobe steak and lobster" and she says "tough...send me to Spain for a month, I need a vacation..." people get outraged.

I mean, people other than tenured law professors making 6 figure salaries and living in insulated communities.

BTW I don't know as Michelle (notice how I've avoided the shaved wookie jokes?) is overwight, but she ain't tiny. And her ass is huge. There's a picture of her boarding a plane where the thing takes up the entire staircase thing.

Kevin Dujan at hillbuzz predicts once she's finally out of the WH she'll become kind of a Queen Mother beloved figure because she'll loosen up some.

The first lady’s critics “are reacting to the her fat butt, or they are using it as a code to demonstrate Michelle Obama's hypocrisy about fat and remind people that she’s fat,” says someone who's not a black racist like Andra Gillespie.

The first lady’s critics “are reacting to the her fat butt, or they are using it as a code to demonstrate Michelle Obama's hypocrisy about fat and remind people that she’s fat,” says someone who's not a black racist like Andra Gillespie.

It's not really her ass, persay. It's the line from her shoulders down to her ass that gives her the physique of an inside linebacker. Matching that with both the stereotypical angry black wife trope and the much slimmer BHO frame sets up a hen-pecked sitcom.

I come from a family of pear-shaped white women, so I know that at some point, to lose any more weight in your butt, is to cause your chest becomes completely flat and your face to look emaciated. So I am not going to criticize Mrs. Obama for that.

Except that she wants to tell me what to feed my kids. Get your fat butt out of my business, lady.

How does it work that he was suspended for saying someone, especially a public figure, had a fat ass? And why does WaPo run with the "racial" aspect rather than say anything about the actual incident involving the highschool teacher? Was he just suspended for calling her a fat ass to a group of boys? Did he do it in front of a group of girls, in front of an large assembly, in front of the entire school? Seriously, what the hell were the circumstances where this suspension could be ok (I'd dislike it, but understand being suspended for saying something like that during a full school assembly).

OMG the Washington Post actually published an entire article about Michelle Obama's posterior?

For as long as I can remember, male chauvinist pigs have been dehumanizing women by criticizing and ridiculing their body parts be it boobs or ass.

Why give this coach's boorish comments a bullhorn on a bigger stage and broadcast this MCP's insulting remarks?

I do think articles about Michelle Obama's purported beauty and elegance are way overdone but she is the First Lady and should be afforded enough respect that her butt not be the subject of a newspaper article.

Michelle is what she's always been--a jumped up affirmative action schoolie/hire from a distinctily non-deprived middle-class background with a racial chip on her shoulder despite having everything having been handed to her regardless of merit.. Her national "make nice" and being gung-ho for veterans and good-health campaign is strictly an image make-over, period. As CEO-MMP has noted she's an imperious Marie Antoinette-like bitch who is heavy-duty high maintenance and yet still manages to gripe publiclyabout her/their financial "travails" while living the "Baby-Doc"/Emperor Bokassa lifestyle. She's a disgusting hag..

OK, the media's tried to turn Moochelle into Jackie Kennedy for 5 years and it's gone flat.

She's big and not at all pretty, with her natural expression, like turbo Tax Timmy, being a scowl. We'll leave her personality and various hypocrisies out of it.

For a woman with her rump, she should be wearing skirts (no aspersions on someone else, we've seen her legs and, all, and they're quite comely), so she gets a bit of a drape. Pants are for men, who generally have narrow hips and are flat back there.

Not being nasty, just calling it like I see it.

As for the coach, this is what happens in a cult of personality aggravated by PC.

Andy R. said...

This anti-gay bigotry might have had something to do with his suspension:

There will always be people who make boorish statements. So for me the least objectionable person in this story is the boorish football coach.

All the rest is chilling. The little wise ass recording the teacher and posting it. The coach being suspended. The WP elevating the comment (not the suspension) to story status. The obligatory professor to bring in the all is racist code angle. All simply vile in a free republic.

You should the first few chapters of The Good Soldier Schweik. We are well and truly on the road to the Hapsburgs and their secret police.

BTW, the WaPo also managed to simultaneously slander Rush in the same article--claiming he called her Michelle "My Butt" Obma. Unless I am totally wrong the closest Rush has come is "My Belle" Obama. But what do facts matter at this point?

In fairness, one has to admit that there is an inordinate amount of attention spent on her appearance and fashion by not only the mainstream press but the fashion media as well. I don't recall another first lady in recent memory that received this kind of fashion adulation.

She doesn't seem to mind the Covergirl attention she receives from those outlets so it stands to reason not all of the attention she gets will be positive.

All the rest is chilling. The little wise ass recording the teacher and posting it. The coach being suspended. The WP elevating the comment (not the suspension) to story status. The obligatory professor to bring in the all is racist code angle. All simply vile in a free republic.

I'm not sure about that. We had that case in SC of that teacher berating students in class for questioning BHO's re-election. She was recorded and it was widely distributed and I believe she was sanctioned if not suspended.

No the WP didn't pick it up, but I don't have a problem with students recording and releasing teacher comments any more than I am people filming the police. Both positions have a special place in society and, as such, their occupants must be held to a higher standard.

LOL, I was thinking just that as I posted!Actually, Marie suffered an undeservedly bad press. If Marie A had had the same PR machine going for her as Michelle baby enjoys Marie would have kept her head..

Without the concealment of a suit jacket, his little pot belly and his big rear end made him a somewhat comical figure.... When he had to run up steps to reach the stage, his rear end jutted out so far that small boys in the audience audibly snickered.

I guess, according to Andra Gillespie, Lyndon Johnson was our first black president.

All the rest is chilling. The little wise ass recording the teacher and posting it. The coach being suspended. The WP elevating the comment (not the suspension) to story status. The obligatory professor to bring in the all is racist code angle. All simply vile in a free republic.

I'm not sure about that. We had that case in SC of that teacher berating students in class for questioning BHO's re-election. She was recorded and it was widely distributed and I believe she was sanctioned if not suspended.

No the WP didn't pick it up, but I don't have a problem with students recording and releasing teacher comments any more than I am people filming the police. Both positions have a special place in society and, as such, their occupants must be held to a higher standard.

I see your point, but there's a Gestapo/NKVD aspect to this that is undeniable, regardless of whose ox gets gored and whether the offender is reported to the Kempei Tai or the Maquis.

jd said...

he called her a gorilla and was homophobic.

Wisconsin should fire Althouse.

I can't believe your students are willing to enter your classroom at all anymore. You host a salon for racist idiots. Too bad you're a union thug with tender.

So it wasn't public, and her public policy was the real subject, not her butt. But, hey, let's put it in the newspaper. Because some random dude "again" making negative comments about the first lady is totally worthy of national attention.

I hope he doesn't apologize. Apologizing for thoughtcrime just allows them humiliate you with your full consent.

This is about nothing, but the guy is an idiot. We know the nuts are praying someone says this so they can fully engage the media fueled victim posing. Why is it so hard to understand you should shut the fuck up about Michelle and the kids?

Every time you think maybe you've discovered the exception one single thought should override: shut the fuck up. There are no exceptions. There is nothing to be gained by discussing her.

I couldn't care less about the first lady's large posterior. What troubled me most was the taxpayers were on the hook for the back-up alarm OSHA required for her rump. And the front and rear "wide load" escort vehicles.

If it was a TV preacher telling everyone not to have sex out of wedlock and he was having sex with, say, Jessica Hahn, everyone in the media would think that was relevant. And more than 20 years later, people would still remember it.

It's because it fits the story. For the Obamas, there is an enforcement of the Right Way to live that is literally puritanical. But always those rules are for the little people.

How does this sort of crap not cause every last person hearing it to fall over laughing? Michelle Obama's entire resume is that of a professional black. Her race is her career. If people - especially black people - forget her race she's nobody. Either she's just a woman or she's a black woman and not one or the other according to need.

How does this sort of crap not cause every last person hearing it to fall over laughing? Michelle Obama's entire resume is that of a professional black. Her race is her career. If people - especially black people - forget her race she's nobody. Either she's just a woman or she's a black woman and not one or the other according to need.

"The latest public rant against Michelle Obama's effort to promote low-calorie school lunches was recently caught on tape in Alabama — the usual protest against the federal government meddling in local business. And then it quickly found its way around to the first lady's posterior."

Here's the problem with the WaPo piece. It makes it seem like he was suspended for talking about Michelle Obama, not uttering anti-gay comments. And then there's the race angle thrown in the piece. What it sets up is that if you speak ill of the President or his family you will be punished. Excuse my language but that is a fucking absurd message for any newspaper to send, never mind a national one. It is willfully promoting a narrative that strikes at the heart of its own industry: free speech is only free if you agree with us. It's an idiotic message to send to score cheap political points because it undermines the entire idea of mass media actually being free from government control.

"A chill wind is blowing in this nation. A message is being sent through the White House and its allies in talk radio and Clear Channel and Cooperstown. If you oppose this administration, there can and will be ramifications."

I too think Michelle is an attractive woman. She is a big girl, but I do not consider her fat at all. I also have no problem with her attention to obesity in America. Fact is, we have an obesity problem. If Mrs. Obama can inspire young people to exercise and eat right, fine with me. Too bad she can’t inspire our growing welfare state to use their food stamps for healthy food instead of junk. Oh well. At least she and her husband are inspiring a growing welfare state.

I have a problem with the left's weird idea that free speech is a one way street just for them. They can threaten GWB with death, pray for his death, wish for his death, cry for his death, make porn movies about his death and burn him in effigy, but how dare anyone with a negative opinion of any other group be allowed to speak freely. The president of the US is so thin skinned, he is constantly whining about Fox news and Rush Limbaugh. How dare anyone question Obama. Certainly the leftwing media do not question Obama. Instead, the leftwing press (the press) languish Obama with leg tingling praise.Difficult questions for Obama? Unthinkable!

A high school football coach makes insensitive remarks. Hard to believe. These sorts of things would never have happened during the Bush administration. The harsh tones set in the White House are being mirrored in our locker rooms.......I don't think Michelle is beyond normal limits in either her physiology or her personality, but the incessant praise she gets in places like the WP raises hackles. Some of the crticism she receives is unfair, but it's not a patch on the puffery and rose petals that are strewn before her in the media.

Doc Holliday's Hat said... Here's the problem with the WaPo piece. It makes it seem like he was suspended for talking about Michelle Obama, not uttering anti-gay comments.

This. Just because Andy R. is a blithering intolerant idiot, doesn't mean that the coach shouldn't have been disciplined. If you are teaching in a public school there are some things you just can't say (without any judgement on the merits of those opinions), and if you are too stupid to keep your opinions to yourself during work hours then you get no sympathy from me.

I don't think Michelle is beyond normal limits in either her physiology or her personality, but the incessant praise she gets in places like the WP raises hackles. Some of the crticism she receives is unfair, but it's not a patch on the puffery and rose petals that are strewn before her in the media.

Oh come on, First Ladies are generally treated with kid gloves, "puffery and rose petals". Show me the sharp tongued criticism of recent Republican first ladies. It didn't happen. In fact, the two first ladies that were subject to harsh criticism recently are the current one and Mrs. Clinton.

This. Just because Andy R. is a blithering intolerant idiot, doesn't mean that the coach shouldn't have been disciplined. If you are teaching in a public school there are some things you just can't say (without any judgement on the merits of those opinions), and if you are too stupid to keep your opinions to yourself during work hours then you get no sympathy from me.

Michelle Obama's fat ass is a red herring.

Wait. President Mom-Jeans, Andy R. and I agree on something? Call Guinness!

This. Just because Andy R. is a blithering intolerant idiot, doesn't mean that the coach shouldn't have been disciplined. If you are teaching in a public school there are some things you just can't say (without any judgement on the merits of those opinions), and if you are too stupid to keep your opinions to yourself during work hours then you get no sympathy from me.

High school is a weird place and I do think the anti-"bullying" crowd has jumped into bullying people of different viewpoints. I think a suspension is pretty harsh, a reprimand would have been better, more along the lines of "you're a teacher act responsibly." But, again, the initial article implies he was suspended for criticizing the first lady. Its promotion of this narrative is intended to chill such speech, pure and simple. It's the same thing that happened with Palin and Bachmann. "Any woman holding such views must be batshit crazy so we will be relentless in hounding them to keep women like them from speaking out in the future." I personally, don't much like either, but they are no more crazy or out there than a good deal of people in Washington, however, speak about them to nearly anyone and you'll get "those two pychos?" as a response.

The presentation of this article is "badmouth the first family and feel the wrath of the press." Intended to keep people's mouths shut in the future. It's sick.

Michelle Obama made it her business to tell other people how to live their lives, what to eat, how to exercise. That's personal, and it draws personal responses, both pro and con. The fashion press has drooled all over Mrs. Obama and her clothing choices, how pretty she is, etc. So no surprise that people who disagree with her comment on her looks as well.

The Obamas have marketed themselves as celebrities. Celebrities can be worshipped or held in contempt in these very shallow times. The Obamas have gotten a lot of highly publicized and emphasized worship but being celebrities also draws contempt. No whining, please, Obama Fans.

Whatever happened to "no one feels sorry for the guy who owns a plane"

or they are using it [Michelle's enormous ass] as a code to racialize Michelle Obama and remind people that she’s black,

Right....because big butt always ALWAYS equals black. /facepalnm

Reasons Michelle's ass is an issue

1. The push to force us to admit that Michelle is as beautiful/cultured/well dressed/elegant ...choose your own hyperbole....as Jackie Kennedy. A blatant attempt to try to link Obama with the Kennedy legacy

2. The fact that our eyes tell us that number 1 is a lie. That she dresses horribly and has a nasty scowl on her face. And that anyone with eyes can see she has an enormous ass. I don't care how toned her arms are....she has a big butt.

3. The audacity of the woman to try to tell everyone else what to eat while stuffing her face with food that would cost a month's pay for most people. Hypocrisy.....thy name is Obama, Michelle AND Barack.

4. The annoyance that whenever anyone criticizes her (or her husband) it can't possibly be that they deserve criticism or that people can have opinions that are NOT connected with their race. Nooooo....of course not. Any bad thoughts or deviation from the media approved meme.....are RACIST.

And lastly...... Did I mention that she has an enormous ASS!!! Also not tits.

Now...she can't help it. It is genetic. Butt....we can't ignore it either.

In fact, the two first ladies that were subject to harsh criticism recently are the current one and Mrs. Clinton.

Well as I said earlier, Michelle is the first Covergirl first lady since Jackie O. She has almost as much fashion coverage in the media as Kim Kardashian. That alone will garner attention, not all if it positive.

As for Hillary, much of the flak she got was due to the perception that she saw herself as co-President. Plus both simply come off as insufferable and arrogant. Telling me you're finally proud if your country because your husband was nominated to the Presidential ticket? I'm sorry but how much more narcissistic can you get?

You honestly don't see a problem with a teacher, in class, telling his gay students that he doesn't like to be around them?

Would you think it's ok if a white teacher said he doesn't like being around black people?

Actually, yes. I do see a problem with saying those things outloud in a classroom or anywhere. There are a lot of people and places that make me uncomfortable. I avoid those when I can. If I can't, then just deal with it.

On the other hand. Freedom of association The right to form societies, clubs, and other groups of people, and to meet with people individually, without interference by the government. is something that we must protect. Forcing your way and forcing association is the cause of much of the reason for diatribes that are the topic of this post.

Also, trying to FORCE your mind to accept thoughts that you do not agree with by shaming or calling names aka: Michell O is a fashion plate and doesn't have a ginormous ass. You can't FORCE me to agree with your assessment of Michelle O's figure or visage. You can't FORCE me to associate, in non public venues, with people that I don't like.

In public spaces, you just have to deal with it. It doesn't negate your feelings however. Politeness and societal rules dictate that you accept the madding crowd.

First ladies who use their position to promote political agendas and legislation in a high profile manner are exempting themselves from the traditional treatment of first ladies. Add on MO's huge arrogant and elitist attitude plus her hypocrisy regarding food and diet, she has made herself a very large target. Still that's no excuse for ad hominem attacks on her rubenesque figure. She fights mean and should expect to be combatted accordingly.There is definitely a chill in the air as this administration goes after any and all opponents in a distinctly Alinskiite manner.

This wouldn't be a topic of conversation if the media hadn't gone over the top trying to make the First Lady some sort of fashion role model for the rest of us. She isn't a fashionista and they should never have tried to force her into that role. Whoever's idea that was on her PR staff should be fired.

The Washington Post wants to shame people into submission. This is not about Obama, it's about emotional extortion. The special interests which serve the Democrat party, including the national press, civil rights businesses, etc., have been exploiting people with this tactic long before Obama came to office. It's pathetic and is, more so, a human rights violation, and a civil rights violation, at least in America.

"Oh, my, god. Becky, look at her butt It is so big. She looks like One of those rap guys' girlfriends But, y'know, who understands those rap guys? They only talk to her, because She looks like a total prostitute, 'kay? I mean, her butt, is just so big I can't believe it's just so round, it's like Out there, I mean - gross. Look! She's just so ... black!

I like big butts and I cannot lie..

Though in Michelle's case, this white boy doesn't have to she doesnt have much back. At least not back that I care to think about.Yuck.

The new china, White House renovations, expensive clothing, and her attendance at the wedding of Charles and Diana, Prince and Princess of Wales, gave her an aura of being "out of touch" with the American people during an economic recession.[8] This and her taste for splendor inspired the derogatory nickname "Queen Nancy". While Jacqueline Kennedy had also faced some press criticism for her spending habits, Reagan's treatment was much more consistent and negative

While I am not a fan of Sarah Palin, when you recall the invective that was spewed toward her and her family, perhaps you can explain why Michelle Obama deserves protection against criticism, banal as it may be?

It is not OK with me if people are racist and bigots. More importantly, it is not OK with God. Racism and bigotry are sins.

Should people be punished for being racist? They are. They miss out on relationships with wonderful human beings whom the prejudge. They will be judged by the Creator of all. But should they be punished by the state for being stupid sinners? Only if abortion murderers are as well. 8)

it must come as news to all the fat-ass white folks that talking about fat asses is "racial".seems that the article intends to send out the warning that it's not acceptable to critize our dear leaders but it wasn't just talk of first lady's butts that got this coach suspended. he was on a rant in front of his students that was completely inappropriate. this has nothing to do with "free association" as has been suggested above. the students have not freely chosen to associate with a ranting bigot who is shouting anti-gay epithets at them. whether or not this fellow likes being around "queers" or niggers or kikes or gooks, he is WAY out of line using his position of power over his captive young students to shout his hatred and insecurities at them. it's little wonder that so many parents, of all political persuasions, are choosing to homeschool rather than sending their children to be subjected to god-only-know-what from unhinged school teachers.

I didn't read the article but if he did indeed hurl epithets at students then by all means he is out of line and should be punished accordingly. That of course is different than saying I don't like to be around a certain type of person.

For example I don't like to be around Jehovah's Witness or any other Christian type that can't utter a sentence without invoking God, Jesus is the Holy Spirit. If that makes me a bigot then oh well.

I was wondering when someone would eventually mention the Hottentot Venus. But

Most everybody knows this trope

isn't true. Hell, I know about the Hottentot Venus only because I read a lot of Stephen Jay Gould back in the day. And so far as I understand it, Michelle Obama is not remotely in the same league as Sarah Baartman when it comes to steatopygia.

As for Sir Mix-a-lot, I think "Big Bottom" from This Is Spinal Tap predates "Baby Got Back" considerably, and if it involves a racial trope, it was damn cleverly concealed.

it must come as news to all the fat-ass white folks that talking about fat asses is "racial".

Indeed. Fat white people who shop at (of course) Walmart are such a journalistic cliche by now that one almost suspects news agencies of having an app that drops a sentence mentioning them into an article whenever desired. If they live in a Southern state, even better.

everybody knows about her pneumatic rear end. why aren't more people taken aback by her new freakish, frankenstein forehead? she shouldn’t be allowed near any children with that thing. imagine the horror. children could panic, be trampled, and after all, if it saves the life of just one child, isn’t it worth it? ban the bangs, and shave the children!

everybody knows about her pneumatic rear end. why aren't more people taken aback by her new freakish, frankenstein forehead? she shouldn’t be allowed near any children with that thing. imagine the horror. children could panic, be trampled, and after all, if it saves the life of just one child, isn’t it worth it? ban the bangs, and shave the children!

everybody knows about her pneumatic rear end. why aren't more people taken aback by her new freakish, frankenstein forehead? she shouldn’t be allowed near any children with that thing. imagine the horror. children could panic, be trampled, and after all, if it saves the life of just one child, isn’t it worth it? ban the bangs, and shave the children!

I think at least three. But there's no shame in taking the low-hanging fruit when it's sitting, like, right there. If professional comedians couldn't do that, they'd have to, you know, work. Thankfully for them, fruit just drop right into the hand all over this planet.

You know she is a bossy top in bed too. Over there, pound more here, hit this crevice, circles round, circles tall, small slow pounding, then faster deeper pounding, etc. Clean my pussy before you fuck me. Not eat my ass.